@ All,
When I mean look for a larger car, I am speaking in terms of how many people he will have in the car at one time. 5 people in the Civic is very cramped. God forbid you get into an accident in the Civic with 5 people inside, it could mean disaster if it was a serious accident. Obviously there isn't a problem if it is a little fender bender.

The industry in a whole has always tried to push unrealistic passenger numbers in mainstream cars. Case and point would be the Honda Pilot which seats 8 people and the same Acura MDX which seats 7. They both use the same fold down rear seat.

Also, you didn't indicate whether your kids are in booster seats or child seats. This will seriously reduce the number of people that can sit in the back seat. Because of the bulk of the child/booster seat.

If you decide to purchase this car take your entire family. Have them all with you when you drive the car. You will get a feeling of how this car drives with a full load. You will also see how much room you have to work with. I don't want to discourage you from the HCH but seeing how this car will work for you is number one.

Another note, if everything fits right, try out the regular Civic. You will get that 2100 tax credit up front in terms of price of car. A fully equipped EX with Leather would have cost me $19,500.00, my hybrid cost me fully equipped at $22,600.00. The regular one will also boost a little more power if you are going to have all 5 people in the car. And the regular Civic is also a gas sipper.

Good Luck!

----
1987 Chevy Spectrum - 200,000+ Miles -Junk Yard
1994 Honda Civic DX Coupe - Truck Hit it
1998 Acura 2.3 CL - End of Lease
2002 Acura TL 3.2 - End of Lease
2004 Acura MDX - End of Lease
2007 Mercedes ML350 -Lemon
2007 Honda Civic Hybrid w/Navi - Active

Windsor ,, the username genesis came about after I transplanted a 351 Windsor into my old '65 Coupe. The car had miserable suspension, horrible brakes, and one massive engine. Imagine, 350 horsepower in a 2900 pound car with a four speed and 4.11 gears. I'm pretty sure I was not getting more than 8 mpg in that thing. But it was kewl.

I test drive the Prius a few months ago. It's transition from ICE to battery was smooth but there was just something lacking. Maybe it was the lack of tachometer, but driving felt very disconnected in the Prius.

The 0 -60 time doesn't worry me too much. I already spend a lot of time using hypermiling techniques on the Mustang.

Wow... then I predict you're going to love hypermiling the Civic Hybrid !!

Also, if you have not done it already, check out Tarabell's article at CleanMPG for the HCH-II hypermiling basics.

Cheers;

MSantos

I think the HCH is one of the most highly rated cars as far as safety goes.

Affirmative.

For the price, it is hard to find a car that can best the HCH in terms of side impact protection for the front and rear occupants. Again, these are the tests where many larger vehicles are worse than 8th gen Civic...

Side impact tests for the 8th gen Civic
Side impact test for the Chevy Malibu (good, but not better than a Civic)
Side impact tests for the Chevy Impala (same heh?)

Cheers;

MSantos

Instead of picking on American Cars how about going to safecars.gov It will show you all the cars in their line up that have great safety ratings.

I will stand by my argument about having 3 people in the rear seat in the event of a major accident. Even driving this afternoon, I had to think about it. Watching my son in his booster seat, I could see that there wouldn't be any room for two more people in the back seat to sit comfortability. But again if comfort is not a must then go all for it.

If I get a chance I will have four of my co-workers ride with me in my car to lunch to see how they feel about the comfort of the back seat. I will also do a comparison of the power loss with the added weight in the vehicle.

----
1987 Chevy Spectrum - 200,000+ Miles -Junk Yard
1994 Honda Civic DX Coupe - Truck Hit it
1998 Acura 2.3 CL - End of Lease
2002 Acura TL 3.2 - End of Lease
2004 Acura MDX - End of Lease
2007 Mercedes ML350 -Lemon
2007 Honda Civic Hybrid w/Navi - Active

I like the idea of a test drive with a full load of kiddies to evaluate the power. Unfortunately, I have chosen to drive four hours to TN so that I can get a good deal and also less hassle transferring my TN plates. Normally, I'd pack everyone up and go for a road trip. However, I'm stuck in a loop. Can't go in the Mustang because the family won't fit. So again, I'd have to drive two cars just to shuttle everybody. Maybe I'll ask three salesmen to ride with me on the test drive.

Sorry, I did not pick on American Cars. I picked two popular and well designed domestic cars. The typical bread-and-butter family 4 door sedans from GM's stable... which I bet, are measurably larger than the 8th Civic.

BTW, the "safecars.gov" does not work for me (DNS issue?). Is there an alternate link?

Arbittan, rest assured that I did not pick the worst to illustrate the point that the Civic is safer than most cars, some of them larger. If you look through the IIHS government crash tests, most automakers have much poorer performing vehicles. full size, SUV's and all. Quite an eye opener, no?

Cheers;

MSantos

arbittan,
Comfort NOT = Crash Safety

Generally speaking, larger would seem to equate to both comfort & safety. But the HCH2 (or any other car, typically) is not LESS SAFE in a crash just because 2 or 3 people are in the back seat.

MSantos, arbittan might have meant http://safercars.gov.

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL